


She's Nostalgia

by notreallygrump



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Marijuana, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 16:53:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9558155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notreallygrump/pseuds/notreallygrump
Summary: She sometimes disappears, but Dan always knows where to find her.





	

_**12:40:** “(Y/N), let me know you’re okay.”_

_**12:42:** “You’re getting all of us worried. Tell me where you are just so we know.”_

_**12:56:** “(Y/N) please.”_

_**13:01:** “I’m recording for the next few hours, if I don’t hear from you by 4 I’m coming to find you.”_

_**16:38:** “I’m coming to find you. I’ll see you soon. Stay safe.” _

 

You know that Dan can guess where you are at this point. You’ve done this plenty of times and he knows you never do it to be dramatic. Sometimes you just need to be alone, without a phone, with your music playing and the whole world on pause.

He’ll be here within the hour, you know that much is true, as you sit with papers, a shitty ass roach (made from the remnants of an old train ticket) and a small, rather pungent plastic bag. The beanbags surrounding you are the same as the ones back in Dan's work, wall hangings are strewn across the place, incense burners and dream catchers. Your own heaven. Dan's own heaven.

You’re rolling yourself a joint in the basement of your house as the sounds of Pulp’s “His N Hers” bounce off the walls around you. It’s the soundtrack to your childhood, when you throw yourself back into 1997 - age seventeen - only just getting to grips with being a teen, only just leaving the religious life your parents once lead - replacing it with getting drunk in forests, building fires and singing along to an entire Pearl Jam discography before the sun came up and you head to sneak back into your room.

Sometimes you just want to go back to the nineties…

_The fire in front of you is scorching in comparison to the thin blanket that covers your back from the cold. You shiver slightly, perched on your log, when you feel a presence on your left._

_“Mind if I join?” He'd asked. A small, confident smile on his face as he lit a cigarette. Long hair framed his face and you nodded shyly. Unsure of what to say. “You're quiet.” His accent was thick and you guessed he was mostly South Jersey, unlike yourself._

_“The quiet ones are often the most interesting.” You retort and he laughs quietly._

_“You're damn right about that…”_

You finish rolling, grab your lighter and slip the joint between your lips, raising a flame to it.

Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

You remember the first time fondly. It was a few weeks after you had met Dan. Back in New York when you were far prettier, far younger, far thinner, not falling apart at the seams because gravity was pulling everything south - or at least that’s what your mom joked about. You had been in the company of friends all day, walking through the streets of New York in 1999. The first year of a new century on the brink.

Then you found yourself in an old, one bedroom apartment, a scent in the air that hit you with memories of gigs and house parties. Only nineteen but fully aware of the stink of stale beer, the smoke - grey against a backdrop of New York at night - begins to swirl around you as Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon” plays softly from a corner cassette player where dust collects, idly awaiting a change in tempo.

You didn't really know what to do at first, but Dan - or Danny, as he'd told you to call him - taught you well. By four in the morning you were giggling like a fool at some ridiculous joke that sounded slightly too far away.

_”Look, you don't have to try it but you'll probably enjoy it. Besides, how long has you been drinking that bottle of wine for?”_

_“Excuse me?” You draw out the 'u’ in 'excuse’ as you're stood in front of him. He's lying back on his bed, watching you as you're dancing._

_“Don't think I haven't seen you.” He laughs as you take another sip of your drink. “You're a borderline alcoholic.”_

_“Shhh,” You hold a hand up to him, but before you can lower it, he grabs you and pulls you down next to him. He grabs the glass contraption at the bottom of his bed and some other stuff that you're fairly sure is a lot of weed._

_“Look, if you don't like it then fine. You can go back to your cheap wine.” He replaces the burnt - whatever - with something greener._

_“Fine… fine, fine, fine.” You repeat and fall back onto the bed. Staring up at the ceiling you notice how damp this place is._

_You had known Dan for two years now, but you swear you fell for him on that night. Long hair, less curly than present, and angled features giving you that sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach. He handed you the bong and walked you through how to take a hit._

_You disappeared from everyone's lives for three days, experimenting with bongs, joints, pipes, whatever. Locked in his apartment, living in his clothes when yours got too dirty. Dan sat behind you, arms and legs wrapped around you as a Zippo clicks close to your face. Telling you to take a hit, barely whispering but keeping your attention all the same._

_On the second night, as you sat in between Dan's legs with a warm blanket surrounding your brain. You smiled as you played with each others hands before receiving soft, unsure kisses. Growing exponentially more confident with every minute that passed. You had a friend, Sam, who mentioned how great sex was when you were high. You didn't believe him until that night._

 

Something on the fringes of your mentality goes quiet and hazy, you're not baked, but you know you shouldn't really smoke any more until Dan gets here. It would be rude.

Time passes, you lie back and eventually hear footsteps above you in the hallway.

“(Y/N)?” You hear it in the distance, at the top of the basement stairs. The door opens and another slither of light fills the room. Dan instantly begins to walk down the stairs and towards you with a content smile on his face. “So this is where you're hiding?”

“You knew I was here.” You snort as he lays down besides you on the beanbag. Heavy and tired, he throws an arm around you and plucks the joint from between your fingers.

“Yeah but I wanted a reason to bail.” He says and takes a drag before softly kissing your temple. “How ya doin?”

“I'm fine. I just needed to get away, y'know? Work was a total stress today, deadlines approaching. I'm barely sleeping. Y'know I've slept a total of seven hours in the last four days?” You watch Dan as he smokes intently. You love watching him like this, the side only you know about. The side that hasn't quit like the rest of the world thinks he has.

You don't blame him for telling people he's quit. Of course, his friends know he hasn't, but his fans look up to him. The least he can do is set a good example.

“Shit, baby, why didn't you tell me?”

“It's fine. You're finally sleeping after tour. I didn't want you to worry about me.”

“Of course, I'll worry about you.” He turns and scoops you up like a child into his arms. Draping your legs over his torso as you bury your face into his shoulder. “You know I love you right?”

“I should fucking well hope so, we've been married nearly five years.” You quickly retort and Dan laughs. He offers you the joint and you quietly take it from him. Another drag, another… hit. He's watching you with those adoring eyes and you can't help but smile. “I love you, too.” You say before yawning and closing your eyes. Your senses become numb as you sink into the chair, and soon you feel yourself getting tired.

“That's my girl.”

“I miss this, sometimes. I miss the old days when we could do this without caring. Without needing anyone else.”

“I know…” Dan pauses and then takes a breath. “Still, we're happy here right? You're happy?” You open your eyes and face his concerned expression.

“Of course I am.”

_”(Y/N)! (Y/N)!” Dan ran in through the apartment and into your bedroom. The beaming smile spread across his face gives you a shock, it's the first time in a long time he's looked so happy._

_“What? What's going on?” You go to move off the bed but Dan holds a hand up to stop you. He sits down himself and you meet him at the end of the bed._

_“Okay. I have… a proposition for you, and I know you're going to need to think about it.” He sounds serious but he can't wipe the smile from his face._

_“Dan what's going on?”_

_“I might have a new job… but it's with my friend.”_

_“Why do I need to think about it?”_

_“Because-” Dan stops and turns on the bed. “It's in California… with Arin.”_

_“California?” Your face drops, and Dan clearly sees it. That's far. That's the other side of the country._

_“I know. It's far and if you really don't want to go then I'll tell Arin no and that's…” He's lying, you know he's lying. “It's fine.”_

_You're quietly mulling over the idea, finding yourself more excited about this as you continue to think._

_“So?” You watch as Dan's hopeful expression seems to disappear before you nod._

_“Let's do it.”_

_“Are you sure?” Dan laughs with excitement as you tell him yes again._

_“Yeah… let's go to California.”_


End file.
